2013

The Home Depot Garden Club has been running a series on “Stretch Gardening” featuring ideas to extend the gardening season and guess who was invited to chime in on the subject? Well that was easy and hard to refuse considering how much I enjoy stretching all of the limits out in my backyard garden. I […]

There’s often a fashion show of sorts here to highlight my fall gardens because it is such a special time when things are lush and green with very little effort required to be spent on tasks such as weeding, watering, or even issues related to insect control. In the past I’ve posted an Autumn Photo Line-Up, Fall Garden Revue, and […]

I’m not fanatical about companion planting as outlined in books like “Carrots Love Tomatoes” or “Roses Love Garlic” but that won’t stop me from adding my own spin to the subject and proclaiming that “Blueberries Love Wintergreen!” While I do believe plants can form beneficial relationships with each other and that they can also grow better when paired in certain groupings; I don’t […]

For Backyard Fruit Lovers Fall is an exciting time here in Central Pennsylvania with events such as the apple harvest, the Backyard Fruit Grower’s annual fruit tasting, and this past weekend’s Pawpaw tour all featured on the calendar. Ask most people about Pawpaws and you’ll get the same looks as though you had mentioned Jujube Trees […]

I frequently publish a line up of spring gardening conferences but there are also some great fall events on tap for the backyard gardener or homesteader. For the past two years I have attended the Mother Earth News Fair that takes place in Seven Springs, PA and it has been a great event with a format […]

Backyard Beekeeping is an interest that I haven’t written about very much here on this site but I’ve continued at it since that initial backyard beekeeping post back in 2011. There’s been a lot of progress out in the Veggie Gardening Tips Apiary and this entry is a complete update on the beehives and my latest beekeeping activities. I […]

You really don’t need a backyard to raise your own fruit and vegetable garden; a variety of styles and designs will do, and work fine for just about anything you could desire to grow. Just be sure that your pots have sufficient depth to accommodate the plants that you would like to grow. Here’s a […]

Thanks to everyone who read or commented on the recent post about the Troy-Bilt TB675 EC Trimmer. The review also featured a new grass trimmer giveaway and I am happy to share that the winner based on a selection by a random number generator is Amanda. Amanda lives in Oregon where she recently purchased a […]

At this year’s Garden2Blog event I took advantage of an opportunity to check out some of Troy-Bilt’s line of new products that include tillers, string trimmers, and lawn mowers. I was familiar with the quality of the company’s tillers but walked away from the demonstration impressed by the innovation contained in their other garden equipment. After I returned home from […]

About the Gardener

Gardening is a wonderful gift that I've developed the hard way... through trial and error! I hope to share the incredible lessons learned and make things a lot easier for you out in the organic vegetable garden.